Invitation to the Prince's Palace (17 page)

How could Mel combat that? How could she take what had happened last night, and put it in some kind of perspective somehow so that she could contain these feelings, get them under control and then somehow make them stop altogether when it just wasn’t like that now?

How could she marry him, live as his…princess but secretly in name only, let herself become more and more familiar with him with the passing of each day and then leave at the end of a few short months and get on with her life as though none of this had happened?

Those pretty, sparkly shoes were nowhere to be found right now.

‘I came out to deliver some of the cakes that I baked last night for the festival.’ Her words held a tremor and she cleared her throat before she went on. She didn’t want that tremor. She couldn’t allow it. She just couldn’t. He mustn’t detect how shaken she felt and perhaps figure out why.

Rik wanted a single life, not to be bound in the very relationship that he’d asked her to help him avoid. The knowledge lanced through her, of how utterly useless it would be to hold out any hope that their circumstances might change.

So press on, Mel. You can do it. One step after another until you get there.

‘I wanted a look at the festival.’ There. A normal tone, a normal topic of conversation.

A bunch of unspoken words filling the air between them.

She tightened her lips so they wouldn’t tremble. ‘I thought it might be interesting, and I didn’t want the kitchen staff to have to bring all the cakes and cookies themselves.’

‘And you had men lined up to ask you out.’ His words held no particular inflection.

So why did Mel believe she could hear possession in them?

Because you are engaged to him, but for a purpose, Mel. That’s all it is.

They might have been keeping their marriage plans secret from the masses for as long as they could possibly manage, but that wouldn’t mean he would be happy to see her out being asked on dates by local men. ‘I didn’t expect that to happen. I just stepped out of the food tent.’

‘I know. I saw.’ Rik suppressed a sigh as he searched his fiancée’s eyes, her face. She looked overwhelmed and uncertain, shaken to the core.

He blamed himself for that. And into that mix he had brought a burst of jealousy that was completely inappropriate.

‘I should have waited for you this morning.’ Whether he’d known what to say to her, or not, Rik should have waited. A prince did not avoid facing something just because he did not know how to manage a situation. ‘Winnow called early and I went—’

‘It’s all right.’ She touched his arm, and quickly drew her hand away as though the touch had burned her.

Remorse pricked him afresh. Remorse and a confusion of feelings? He pushed the impression aside. There were no warring feelings, just resolve and the need to try to ease them through this so they could go forward. Rik straightened his shoulders.

Melanie gestured in front of them. ‘I’ve probably wasted your time, coming to look for me, too. Let’s head back. I’m sure you have a lot of things that you need to do before the—the rehearsal later.’

‘There is nothing that cannot wait until then.’ But it was good that Melanie would come back with him now. For the first few minutes until they got free of the fair and started on the path back to the palace, Rik let silence reign.

Once they were alone, he slowed his pace. ‘We need to talk, Melanie. About last night.’

‘Oh, really, I don’t think there’s any need.’ Every defence she could muster was immediately thrown up. She tipped her chin in the air. ‘It’s just—it was—we have our arrangement! Last night wasn’t—it happened, that’s all but it doesn’t need to make any difference to anything. Nothing needs to change. Really I’d prefer to just forget all about it.’

‘But that is not possible.’ And even though he knew it should not have happened, Rik did not want…to deny the memory or to let her think— ‘I don’t want you to imagine that I took what we shared lightly,’ he began carefully. ‘It was—’

‘Lots of people sleep together for lots of different reasons.’ She drew a shuddery breath. ‘We did because we did. We were…a little bit attracted to each other and maybe we were…curious. Now that curiosity is set to rest it doesn’t have to happen again.’ Her words emerged in stilted tones but with so much determination.

She was saying all the things that Rik himself believed about their situation. Not dismissing what they had shared, but doing all she could to put it in an appropriate context. This was what he would have tried to do himself, so why did her response make his chest feel tight? Make him want to take her in his arms again and try to mend them through touch when touch had brought them to this in the first place?

They rounded a bend in the road. The palace came into view.

Rik barely looked ahead of them. He could only look at Melanie. Guilt that he had caused her this unease vied with feelings of…disappointment and…loss within him. How could that be so? He must only feel relief, and…the need to reassure her.

So get your focus back on the goal, Rik. It’s as important now as it was at the start.

It was. In her way, Melanie was right. Nothing about any of that had changed. Nothing at the core of him,
either. Nothing of what he needed, of what he could give and…what he could not give.

So do what you can to reassure her, Rik, both for now and for later.

‘I will look after you for the short term of our marriage, Melanie.’ A rustle sounded around a bend in the path and he briefly wondered if Rufusina had got loose again before the thought left him for more important ones. ‘You will lack for nothing. I will provide everything you might want, and when you go back to Australia afterwards—’

‘I don’t need anything extra from you. I still have all the money you gave me while we were in Paris. That’s more than enough to see me back to Australia.’ Her words were protective, proud. ‘I can take care of myself once I’ve finished being your temporary princess. All that matters is that you’ve held onto your freedom, and you’ve got the things you needed—’

‘What is this? What is going on here?’ King Georgio appeared before them on the path.

Not Rufusina on the loose and foraging.

But Rik’s father, becoming angrier by the moment as what he had just heard sank in.

‘What trickery have I just heard, Rikardo? I did not say that you could marry temporarily. You must marry permanently!’ His gaze shifted to Melanie and further suspicion filled it.

Before the king could speak, Rik took a step forward, half shielding Melanie with his body. ‘This situation is of my making, Father. You will not question Melanie or accuse her about any of this.’

‘Then you will explain yourself.’ Georgio’s words were cold. ‘And this will not be done standing in the middle of a walkway.’

Security people had gathered in the king’s wake.

‘You will attend me appropriately, inside the palace. You will not keep me waiting.’ Without another word, the older man walked away.

Rik turned to Melanie.

‘All your plans, Rik.’ Concern and unease filled her face. ‘He looked so angry.’

‘I must speak to him now, try to get him to understand.’ He hesitated. ‘You will wait for me?’

‘I’ll wait in our—in the suite until you can let me know what happened.’

With thoughts churning, Rik took one last look at the woman before him, and turned to follow his father.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I
AM
stunned.

Rik thought the words silently as he walked towards the grand historic church where he and Melanie were to today rehearse the marriage ceremony. Stunned almost to the point of numbness by what his father had just revealed.

He needed to speak to Melanie now more than before, and when he stepped through the doors of the church, she broke away from the small group of people gathered near the front of the large ancient building, and rushed to his side.

‘I couldn’t wait for you any longer.’ She said the words in a hushed whisper. ‘Dominico came to get me and I couldn’t tell him anything was wrong. Is—is the wedding off now? What happened? What did your father say?’

Beyond them, Anrai and Marcelo waited, along with the priest and various others expecting to participate in this marriage ceremony next week.

Another brother could be standing there.

‘This will shock you, as it did me when my father revealed it, and I would ask that you not tell anyone until I can speak to Anrai and Marcelo.’ Rik drew a slow breath. ‘The reason that my father pushed so hard for marriages is because there is an older brother, a love child to a woman in England. Two years ago this man discovered his true identity. He’s been trying to gain a position in the family through my father since.’

‘Is—? That isn’t sounding like good news to you?’ Melanie’s hand half lifted as though she would press it over her mouth before she dropped it away again.

‘His existence is the reason my mother left, and he has now gained access to copies of our family law and worked out that he can try to claim ascendancy and, with it, Marcelo’s position, rights, and work. If Marcelo is married, his position is safe, but until we are also married, Anrai’s and mine…are not.’

‘In other words he doesn’t really belong within the family.’ She said it quietly. ‘He’s not wanted.’

‘He is not royal born.’ Rik said it carefully. ‘Whether he will find a place within the family, at this stage I do not know. I would like to meet him and discern for myself what manner of man he is and go from there. I would not reject a brother, but I also would not welcome a threat to the security of my country and people.’

‘That’s fair.’ She seemed to relax as she said the words.

Rik went on. ‘The old laws—this is part of why Marcelo wants to bring change. This is not merely so we can all maintain our positions. It is to keep the people of the country safe as well.’

‘Why would this man push for a position that shouldn’t rightly be his? Surely he must realise that he can’t just walk in and take someone’s place?’

‘My father has no doubt contributed to the man’s anger and frustration by refusing to acknowledge him at all when he should have done so many years ago.’

‘Well, you can take care of your part in it. You’re marrying me. You can say you’ve been married then. Your position will be safe!’

All but for one vital thing. ‘I must
remain married
, Melanie. My plan to marry you and then end the relationship afterwards will not work for this.’

‘What—what will you do?’ She searched his face and her eyes were so deep and so guarded as she began to realise how this new situation had raised the stakes. ‘You’ll need to find someone else. You’ll need to start looking right away. Someone you can make that kind of commitment with. There must be
someone
you could accept in that way.’

The priest cleared his throat noisily at the front of the church.

Rik’s brothers cast glances their way that were becoming more than curious.

Of all settings and times, this had to be about the worst but at least as Rik had informed Melanie of the basics of the issue his thoughts had cleared. He knew exactly what he needed, now, and from whom, but could he yet again convince her?

‘You want me to be the one, don’t you?’ The words came from between lips that had whitened with shock. ‘You want me to be married to you permanently?’

‘We are already together. I would provide for your every need. You would live a privileged life, want for nothing.’ It would resolve problems, not only for Rik, but also for Melanie. ‘You would never again have to fend for yourself, and later if you wanted a child I would…allow it.’

There were other words that tried to bubble up, but Rik needed to protect himself in this—

Her glance searched his face before it shifted to take in the church, the people waiting for the rehearsal to start. ‘I can’t do it. Not even for the people.’ She whispered the words before she added more strongly, ‘I’ve tried hard in my life and I’ve never rejected people even when they’ve rejected me, but I won’t line up for another lifetime of that.

‘I blamed myself for losing my parents in that car crash. I thought after that I didn’t deserve happiness, to be alive when they weren’t, but that was grief talking. I do deserve happiness. I deserve better from you.’

Melanie turned on her heel and ran from the church.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

‘
I
’VE
made the biggest mistake of my life.’ Rik spoke the words to Marcelo as his brother drove them towards the country’s small international airport. He felt sick inside, close to overwhelmed and very, very afraid that he might have lost his chance with Melanie for ever by stupidly trying too hard to protect himself and by being too slow to realise…

Rik had lost valuable time searching for Melanie out of doors. He’d thought she must have run to their spot on the mountainside, or perhaps back to Ettonbierre village to lose herself in the crowd there.

As he’d searched, knowing his brothers were also looking, Rik had begun to panic. In her distraught state, what if something happened to Melanie? And all that he had locked down inside him and tried to deny since he and Melanie made love had begun to inexorably make its way to the surface and demand to be known.

‘She will not leave the airport.’ Marcelo offered the assurance without taking his glance from the road. ‘If need be, the flights will all be delayed until we get there. Dominico will take care of it.’

That was a privilege of position that, in this moment, Rik was willing to exploit without compunction. It was Melanie’s reaction when he caught up with her that concerned him.

‘I have used Melanie without considering how she might feel. Not respected her rights and emotions.’ He shook his head. ‘I asked her to remain permanently married to me as though she should be grateful for all the privileges she would receive as part of the family.’

‘Such as being in a loveless marriage for life?’ Marcelo’s words were not harsh, neither teasing, but a statement of understanding of things that he and Rik had never discussed about their upbringing.